Let us return now to those days of yesteryear. We last left our intrepid journalist and computer guy having just joined IBM and getting initiated to some of the inside jokes and jibes.
Since I had an Electrical Engineering degree, I naturally pursued that direction at IBM. Although it didn't take too long, the lure of software programming was to strike, but not just yet. Let's take a minute to discuss the hardware technology of the day.
There were no integrated circuits in IBM gear at that time, having just started to appear in the marketplace. Individual transistors were soldered to circuit boards, along with other components. Most of the IBM equipment of that day used IBM's discrete transistor technology, called SMS. Although not being developed any longer, vacuum tube equipment was still in use.
But the advanced large mainframes that I worked on also used a more dense technology. Called SLT, this was composed of logic circuits using small square elements having (as I recall) four transistors on them. These cans were about the size of today's integrated circuits containing millions of transistors! The SLT circuits were soldered on cards (about 3" x 5") that plugged into boards. The circuits on the boards were connected by wires embedded in the boards or on yellow wires strung on pins on the back.
These were assembled into systems that literally would fill a small house. Our department had "hands on" use of a System 360 Model 70. This computer had about 1/4 the compute power of the first IBM PC, yet it took up a huge room. The processor itself was about 7 feet high and 20 feet long, with cabinets coming out the back. The disk drives and tape units took up most of the rest of the room. The disk drives at that time held about 7 megabytes, in something about the size of a washing machine. I did say megabytes - they held only about 5 floppy disks worth of data. The main console had over 2,000 winking and blinking lights.
I was lucky enough to be working on a new computer product line that was two steps away from what was currently being marketed. Because of this, no actual hardware existed - we had to simulate all aspects of the design of the new computer using software. This is where the software bug hit, as I spent most of my time writing simulations for memory systems. When the project was cancelled (it was just ahead if its time, and was resurrected a few years later), I had to make a choice and I decided to stick with software - a decision that directed my life from that point.
One of my favorite stores of that day concerned one of our system support technicians, his assistant, and a ladder. Since these systems had very high voltages in them, there was a very large and prominent red Emergency Power Off (EPO) switch on the wall. In case of emergency, you would punch the button and power would immediately be cut to the entire room. One day, the tech was carrying a ladder over his shoulder and suddenly the room fell completely silent - the fans stopped running, the printers stopped printing, and tape slumped in the tape drives. We all stared at each other looking for a cause, and finally our eyes came to rest on a very sheepish looking tech that had hit the switch with the ladder. It was like something out of Laurel and Hardy. Since the complex was improperly shut down, it took us literally days to bring it back up, and we cussed the tech loudly for causing our work schedules to be missed.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com).